THERAPEUTIC ART

"Surrounding", Mixed Media, 9" x 6"

On a cold winter’s night in December,

In a place right in my home,

I slipped quickly on a pool of plain water,

And…… In that split second I fractured the longest bone in my body—my femur!

I certainly did myself in!

Now, after surgery, and with a new titanium plate inserted into my leg (airport security is going to love this!), I find myself sitting almost all day because I cannot put any weight on my healing leg!  This situation is affording me lots of time to be quiet; to practice patience; to help me become fully aware that I cannot control everything; to read; rest and yes, even to think about and create art!

As a result,  I decided to paint my feelings about the accident.  I can tell you that it was definitely therapeutic to create even this small watercolor.  The act of putting brush to paper, and letting the paint flow, helped me to replay, and then mentally clear out, some of the trauma.  I did the painting over many days by layering yellow, a touch of blue and red,  and then drawing with black ink.  The picture seems to reflect aspects of the hospital stay and resultant confusion.

I am also extremely thankful and appreciative for the enormous amount of healing support given to me by my family and friends.  A thank you to them is not even enough.

On another note, and since I now have the time, I have been reading some fascinating books. I highly recommend  “Daily Rituals” (How Artists Work), by Mason Curry. What I find as a recurring theme in the book is the fact that a large number of the various artists, poets, philosophers, suffer from insomnia and that almost all of them take daily walks to clear their minds. A book I have just finished is Thomas Cahill’s “Mysteries of the Middle Ages."  I cannot endorse this book highly enough.   Cahill deftly and brilliantly retells in a gripping way the significant stories surrounding lives of people whose contributions continue to influence our modern age. I am also inspired by “Zentangles”, a how-to design coloring book,  that was given to me by a very thoughtful friend.  You can see evidence of the zentangle inspiration in the black ink lines drawn on my watercolor!

Please read my latest article about eco-artist, Alexandre Dang, at the following link: http://www.healing-power-of-art.org/alexandre-dang-artist-engineer-and-environmentalist/

Happy New Year!!!